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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs are made without baking. During recipe development, I found that simply adding a lid produces a humid atmosphere that gently cooks the eggs, delivering a gently cooked delicately prepared egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat of the oven is much more aggressive compared to steaming, often leading to dry everything out and harden the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, but get creative. One is a super-simple turmeric coconut curry, and the second offers a merguez ragu is a riff on classic tomato-baked eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Serves Two servings

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
A few basil leaves, plus extra to serve
4 eggs
2 green finger chillies, finely sliced, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate-high temperature. Add a shot of olive oil, incorporate onions seasoned with salt, fry until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, stirring occasionally briefly, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly about 35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations across the base, break eggs into each. Dust each egg lightly salted, place a lid on the pan, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until the whites are set and yolks warmed. Remove from heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cook 45 minutes
Serves Two

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Tomato base
Fine sea salt
4 eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Fresh parsley, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Pour in oil and, once it’s warm, take off sausage casings forming small bits of the meat into the pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, brown the meat slowly, releasing flavorful oils. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, to brown evenly.

After browning, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame sauté while stirring, briefly, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, add seasoning and bring to a simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently for twenty minutes. Sauce will thicken, become richer and darker, with oils separating and surfacing.

Use the back of a spoon making indentations within sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid. Heat for minutes on low flame, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and oil splash, with lemon on side.